Quick Answer to Questions about Best-Way-To-Do Nanowrimo

Ok - Nanowrimo is starting next week and many of you have been asking about the "right way to do it". Dingdingdingdingding there is no "right way".

What works for you? Does an outline help you focus on the story? Go for it! Does automatic free writing work for you? Go for it! Do you write better in a coffee shop surrounded by strangers? That's where you should be. Do you write better in a dark room with soundproofing and blinders on your eyes and ear plugs?(Could I make this up? Jonathan Franzen said he needed something of the sort while writing The Corrections)If that's the case, do it.

You might find that different pieces or parts of the story require different internal or external stimulation. You might be the type (pardon the pun) who writes for 24 hours straight and then collapses. You might be the type who writes for an hour and leaves the thought hanging so you can begin again the next day. WHATEVER WORKS!

Some of you wrote that you find Dorothea Brande's Becoming a Writer is a bit too pure and artsy and internal and touchy-feely. Try Stephen King's book On Writing. It's down to earth, fantastic, real and really gets you going whether or not you're one of his rabid readers.

And for those of you who have asked me whether or not I'll ever compile all the workshops and writing into a book on creativity and writing. Thanks for asking - it's in the works but no idea when it will be ready... and that's a workshop for another day.....

Enjoy the day,
RK